ABSTRACT
The sixty-year period from the ascent of the Ottoman sultan Selim III to the death of the Egyptian governor Muhammad Ali defines an era of state-sponsored military reforms during which the rulers of the Ottoman Empire and Egypt sought to remake their armed forces in the European image. The sultan's most ambitious military project was the creation of a new infantry corps trained and equipped according to the latest European standards. The formation and expansion of the nizam-i jedid aroused active opposition from the elements of Ottoman society that had benefited from the decline of central authority. Following the French Revolution in 1789, Britain and France became embroiled in a series of wars that lasted until French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's defeat at Waterloo in 1815. The Treaty of London of 1841 compelled Muhammad Ali to withdraw from all the territories he had occupied except the Sudan. The treaty also limited the Egyptian army's size to 18,000 men.
